Monday, March 27, 2017

I
checked another thing off my Model Railroad bucket list recently: I attended
the 2017 Doubleheaders layout tour in the
Kitchener/Waterloo, Ont. region.

For
those of you unfamiliar with the Doubleheaders, it is an annual self-guided
tour of local layouts for the public. $8 got you a pass to visit 31 layouts,
along with four more in the registration room.

As
if that was possible in one day! I managed to see five layouts, including
the not-to-be-missed Waterloo Region Model Railroad Club. (Which I saw for the
third time.)

Chris Bramble's Central Ontario Sub.

On this page are photos of some of the layouts I visited, along with a few
observations about the tour.

First,
modellers in southwestern Ontario seem to like to handlay track! Maybe it’s
because it’s the home of Fast Tracks,or
perhaps there is something in the water.

Peter Wright's Panhandle & Santa Fe

Second,
every layout I visited used DCC. I truly am a dinosaur, still using DC.

Third,
all of them also employed sound. Fortunately, all kept the sound down low—no loud
cacophony from several locomotives operating at the same time.

Fourth—and
reassuringly—all of the layouts had a problem or two while I was there. A piece
of track where a train would always derail; a pilot truck that kept derailing;
a locomotive that wouldn’t work; or some other gremlin-inspired malady.

Mark Van Runt's North Shore Central

I
was glad to see it doesn’t happen only to me!

Fifth,
it was great to see layouts in various states of completion. We are accustomed
to seeing only finished layouts in the pages of the hobby press.

But
most layouts aren’t like that; they take years to be “finished.” For long
stretches of time they are nothing but track and plywood, with temporary or no
structures or scenery.

Sixth,
it was also good to peek into a few workshops—that’s where the magic happens!
Good to see that other modellers also have lots of projects on the go. It was also
good to peek behind the scenes to see staging yards.

Jeff Pinchbeck's CPR Sutherland Sub.

Anyway,
it was a great experience; maybe I will be able to arrange business travel to
coincide with a future Doubleheader’s tour and visit some more layouts one day.

About Me

Click here for a topical index to the blog.
Click here for an index by year to the blog.
Click here for an index of Great Canadian Model Railroads.
Click here for an overview of the layout from the December, 2009 Railroad Model Craftsman.
Click here to view videos of the layout on YouTube.
Click here for a track plan.